Stories of Hope for Mental Illness... Grace Works!

Opportunities... to feel accepted

"Having a mental illness isolates individuals and families from the normal flow of life. Indeed, these individuals and families feel out of place and like outsiders wherever they go. Mental Health Grace Alliance provides opportunities for individuals and families to feel accepted and part of a community where they are understood - where a mental illness does not exclude them from life and relationships."

- Vicki B. Smyer LPC

Health and Marriage Restoration

"I have spent a fortune on the best Psychiatrists, Mental Hospitals, Medications, etc., and things are getting worse and worse. Where do you go for help, when you have worn out your friends, your family, your church - and you have tried the best mental-health experts have to offer...

I had been living out of a suitcase for two years. My marriage was a train-wreck, and my wife had almost all the markers of BPD. My spiritual and emotional life could be compared to ‘road-kill’. I was totally confused - and could only trust the Lord. In October, I went home with nothing but a superficial knowledge of Joe's Mental Health Grace Alliance plan. It (the plan) worked.

I bless Joe and Mental Health Grace Alliance, and pray the vision could be integrated into every church, ministry and believer’s life. I have found how to deal with my mental illness - that great divide between what I want to be, what I should be, what others expect."

- Client from Tennessee

A framework.... to rebuild our lives

"We felt stunned and helpless when we got the mental illness diagnosis for our son. On one hand it was a relief because it answered many questions as to why his behavior was so upsetting in the past. However, it created many more questions and we were not finding answers. Googling information can be alarming without a real person to help explain things.

Thankfully, we were connected to MHGA and we began to find a framework to begin to rebuild our lives. The Grace Group helps us see that the diagnosis is not overwhelming, that there are things we can do to make situations better. It also keeps us from isolating due to our son's issues, and we have found that we have experienced the working together the BODY of Christ~ as we walk with each other."

- From Texas

Something I can live with... confidence about the future

"I was really having trouble living normal life with an abnormal illness. I had trouble reconciling the spiritual part of what was happening with the physical and mental part of what was happening. My life began to fall apart and at just the right time I met Joe with Mental Health Grace Alliance. He helped me to reconcile what was going on. One thing I had a big problem with was the medicine, but he showed me how I can look at the situation biblically in order to help me better understand what was really going on.

I am thankful for him and for his ministry, it helped me take something that is not talked about, like mental illness, and made it something that I can live with and gave me confidence about the future."

- From Texas

Combining practical and medical with the spiritual

"Mental Health Grace Alliance has been very helpful to us regarding a grandchild with a mental disorder. The aspect of this organization that has been the most helpful to us is the way they combine the practical and medical with the spiritual. This combination of incorporating faith with the struggle brings so much hope and courage into the circumstances. In this world, we will have trials and tribulations, but we can take courage because Jesus has overcome the world, and we can look to Him the author and finisher of our faith. He brings peace to the storm. Sometimes one feels as if they will sink, but when you reach out and take His hand, you are rescued and there is grace to take the next step. We are thankful for this organization and the community it provides. We know there are others experiencing the same struggles, and we are a support for one another."

- From Texas

Helped us to ease the stigma... and ups and downs

"Mental Health Grace Alliance has helped us to ease the stigma and process the ups and downs associated with bipolar disorder. Christ is central in the pursuit of understanding everyday life with a loved one enduring mental illness. The sincere goals of MHGA to support, counsel, and regain lives are just the start of God’s touch on this organization."